No completion date agreed for Ireland’s €2.2bn National Children’s Hospital

03/09/'26 The as yet unopened National Children's Hospital in Dublin pictured this afternoon.....Picture Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.

There is currently no date agreed for completion of the new children’s hospital between construction firm BAM and the board in charge of the development, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) could only say on Friday that it remains committed to delivering the hospital “as soon as possible”.

This comes as BAM’s executive director in Ireland is set to leave the company for a new role within months. An interim appointment will take over during the search for his replacement.

Over the summer, BAM was asked for a revised completion date and updates on outstanding matters as an end-of-August deadline loomed. By then, the build had missed 19 deadlines and costs had soared to an estimated €2.2bn.

However, on Friday, a spokeswoman for the NPHDB said: “The hospital cannot open until BAM has satisfactorily addressed all quality and compliance matters that have been evident and clear to BAM.”

An independent third party known as the Employer’s Representative administers the contract.

The spokeswoman continued: “The Employer’s Representative has requested a revised programme from BAM that includes a robust timeline for the remediation of certification issues and certainty around any revised BAM Substantial Completion date.”

Asked if this means there is no date in place currently, she said: “That’s correct.”

She said: “Over the past 15 months, the need for BAM to extensively revise its initial offers to meet contractual standards has affected its progress.”

BAM, she said, has addressed 199,700 defects since the project began.

“Currently, approximately 2,000 defects remain, though new defects are added and closed during ongoing inspections,” she said.

“4,983 of 5,728 rooms have now reached the contract standard.”

Compliance issues remain

Earlier this month, it was reported that a compensation claim of nearly €100m made by BAM over disputed costs was rejected by a conciliator. Neither BAM nor the NPHDB has commented on these figures.

Concerns have been aired publicly about potential compliance issues around the certification of prefabricated bathroom pods.

The spokeswoman reiterated that BAM is responsible for design and procurement.

“A compliance issue has been identified, and BAM is developing design solutions to address it,” she said.

The design team will review these solutions after BAM submits them, she added.

She also confirmed BAM has told the board its Irish business will be led by Chief Operating Officer for UK & Ireland John Wilkinson until a new executive director is appointed.

“The NPHDB trusts that the change in local leadership will not affect BAM’s commitment to progressing the project towards completion as quickly as possible,” she said.

BAM says hospital is in final stages

A spokesman for BAM described the project as “in the final stages of commissioning and certification”.

“The programme continues to be, and has always been, sufficiently resourced,” he said.

He said specialist commissioning work is underway for the final stages, saying: “As the vast bulk of the works near completion, it is entirely normal that there are fewer personnel on site.” He confirmed an update on the BAM website that executive director Alasdair Henderson is leaving, saying he will “pursue new professional opportunities”.

Mr Wilkinson will take over the day-to-day management of the Ireland business.

“The Construction Director with oversight for the National Children’s Hospital remains in place,” he said.

“BAM continues to work closely with the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and Children’s Health Ireland to deliver the hospital as quickly and safely as possible for the children of Ireland.”